XICOY FADEC system Autostart 10 User manual

FADEC system - Autostart 10

Users Guide.

Torrent d’en Puig, 31. 08358, Arenys de Munt, Barcelona,Spain

E-mail: [email protected]. Fax: +34 933 969 743 web: www.xicoy.com

Manual contents & design: Gaspar Espiell

Welcome!

Congratulations on the purchase of your new FADEC 10 controller. Xicoy are dedicated to

the design and production of electronic controllers to the highest standards of quality and

reliability to bring you the customer the very latest next generation designs.

The FADEC 10 is the result of an intensive effort of design and tests.

PLEASE READ!

The Xicoy Electronica SL responsibility is limited exclusively to the repair of the FADEC

and accessories which are outlined in the conditions of warranty.

Before using this controller please read this manual and agree to the conditions of

warranty.

Customer satisfaction is important to us. Technical support is available trough your local

dealer and trough our email.

Legal and Disclaimer

The FADEC design, firmware, PC soft and the contents of this manual are copyright by

This manual, the pictures and data are property of Xicoy and cannot be used or

reproduced in any way without written permission from Xicoy SL.

Disclaimer

Gas turbine engines are a sophisticated piece of machinery. Care should be taken at all

times when using these engines. They should only be operated by those with the

appropriate skills and knowledge to do so. Incorrect operation or misuse can cause damage

to property and bodily harm operators, spectators and animals. Xicoy Electronica SL

accepts no liability for any kind of damage which may occur.

Xicoy Electronica SL assumes no responsibility for any errors contained in this document

and is not liable for any damages resulting from such errors.

It is forbidden the use of this equipment outside Radio Control

applications, specially those that power vehicles that carry people.

Warranty

The warranty period for the FADEC 10 is 1 year from the date of purchase. Warranty is

valid solely for the original owner and is non transferable upon resale.

Warranty includes parts and labor and is limited to manufacturing and material defects

only.

Damage or defective operation covered under the warranty terms will be repaired and

tested at no cost the original owner (other than postage and packaging). Repairs not

covered under the terms of warranty will be carried out by Xicoy Electronica SL, or their

appointed agents after agreement of costs.

Before returning any equipment for service of repair, please contact first to your local

dealer or Xicoy central office to agree action and costs. Please check the “Limited

warranty conditions” at the end of this document for details.

Description of the FADEC.

The FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) is a total system for the control

of a model gas turbine engine. Its main function is to control and regulate the electric

fuel pump, providing to the turbine engine the necessary amount of fuel for safe and

controlled operation, and to operate the ancillary devices for starting. The FADEC

measures the exhaust gas temperature, the relative position of the throttle stick and the

rotor speed. It monitors all of the controls necessary to guarantee that the engine stays

between the user defined parameters of operation, also providing failsafe shutdown of the

engine when it has detected any important anomaly. In order to make this assessment, the

FADEC has a rpm sensor, a thermocouple input, a throttle servo input, power connections

for the fuel pump, starter, glow plug, fuel and gas valves and the battery and a proprietary

digital port to program and read the engine data in real-time to a PC.

The measurements made by the FADEC are:

•Temperature of the exhaust gas

•Battery voltage

•Barttery current

•Width of the throttle pulses from the radio transmitter

•Engine rotor RPM

•Engine run time.

•External analog signal (airspeed sensor)

Features:

•RPM input: Magnetic sensor up to 250.000 R.P.M. One pulse each turn.

•Temperature range up to 1000ºC using a "K" type thermocouple

•PWM control of 8192 levels for pump, glow plug and starter motor.

•Adjustable power for the starter motor

•Build-in electronic brake for the starter motor to help the clutch to disengage.

•Blown glow-plug detector

•Adjustable glow-plug power

•Glow-plug temperature independent of the battery voltage

•Elapsed engine run timers

•Digital interface to a PC or to a handheld terminal.

•Black box function. Record the engine measures each 0.5sec up to 52 minutes.

•Radio link error counter

•Battery usage counter in mA/h

•Test functions for all connected devices.

•Start modes: Manual, Auto Gas and Kerostart (1)

(1) Currently Xicoy Electronica offer 2 models of Fadec 10, one that allow manual and gas start, and the second,

that allow manual, gas and kerostart. In this manual all the comments about kerostart apply only to Kerostart

FADECs. Ignore them if you own a Gas start FADEC.

Connections:

The FADEC have 3 types of connections:

Power connections: Two high quality MPX connectors

carry all the power current.

Each power lead is identified by the label on the

FADEC body.

The female MPX plug provides the power to the

glow plug and starter motor. Use 0,5mm flexible

cooper lead if the length is up to 0,5m, and 1mm

if higher for Gas start engines, 1mm2 minimum

for Kerostart burner. Both negative leads are

connected to same place inside the FADEC, so it is possible to use only 3 leads to the

engine, sharing the negative between starter and glow plug. Take care of doing a neat

installation to avoid short-circuits, specially in the starter connection, it is very easy that

the soldering in the red lead touch to the starter cover in some engines.

The male MPX plug provides the connection

to the pump and the battery. Use minimum

0,5mm cooper lead for the pump and 1mm

for the battery. Keep all connections well

isolated between them, and be sure to not

reverse the battery polarity, the fadec will

be burned out immediately. The battery

voltage should be of around 7,2V, either 2s

Lipo or 5 cells Nicd/Ni Mh for Kerostart.

Gas start allows the use of A123 2s cell

(6,6V).

DATA Connection:

One 3 pin servo socket, placed on the left side of the

FADEC, provides the connectivity to the handheld

data terminal or a PC.

Signal connections:

4 JR type receptacles provide the connection to the

RX and sensors

Connect the RPM sensor and thermocouple on its

respective sockets, in the orientation that is shown in the

colored labels on the fadec. If necessary, both leads can

be extended using good quality servo extensions.

Connect the throttle lead from the RX in its place, in the upper

position. Side socket is ready for a second servo signal but not used

on present firmware

Airspeed (pitot) sensor, if used, must be connected as shown in the

picture, at the side of the data terminal connection.

The last two sockets are used

for the connection of the

solenoid valves. Bottom position

for the gas/keroburner

solenoid, and the upper position

(as shown in the picture) for the

main fuel valve.

About solenoid valves, please note that they should be of the same

rated voltage as the battery and consume less than 0,5A.

Using and Programming the FADEC:

All the programming and measures are done trough the data terminal. Once the

FADEC is programmed, it is not necessary its use and it is not recommendable to leave it

inside the airplane to minimize the risk of interferences.

The data terminal has a 16 character LCD screen and 4 buttons.

The first two buttons on the left side allow

moving trough the menus, and the two buttons

on the right side allow changing the data.

Main screen, as shown in the picture, give to

the user that main readings from the engine.

These are the FADEC status, the EGT

(temperature), RPM and pump power.

In the case of an error, this screen changes to the

error screen each 2 seconds

Pressing the second button from the left

(Menu Up) the second informative screen is

shown. In the first line you have the measure

of the pulse width received from your RC

system, and the relative stick position.

Second line shows the voltage of the battery

and the software version. If the current

drawn from the battery is higher than 0,5A,

then the FADEC display the battery voltage and the battery current in Amperes.

Gas start units have the software version finished with a “G”, where Kerostart have a “K”.

Next menu let you to choose in four submenus,

selected by pressing the button under of each

option.

Start: Jump to the parameters used on startup

Info: Information and test menus

Radio: Adjust the radio throws

Run: Set the parameters used during engine run.

It is recommended that the first adjust be the one of the radio:

Aligning the transmitter with the FADEC

Turn on the transmitter and receiver. Using

the “menu up” and (-) buttons move to the

“Radio” menus. First screen will be this one:

If you are sure that you want to modify the

radio settings then press the right hand

button (+) and the screen will change to:

On your transmitter, raise first the

trim to full and next the throttle stick to full.

Ensure stick is firmly against the stop.

Now holding the stick against the stop, press

the right button (+) to store the current signal

value into the FADEC.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Pressing any other

button the setting WILL NOT be stored.

The screen will now change to:

Move the trim (or switch the “engine cut”

switch to on) and throttle stick back to zero

and again press the right hand button (+) to

store the position.

The display will now change to:

Leaving the throttle stick in the minimum

position, raise the throttle trim to the full up

position or switch “Engine Cut” switch to off,

and again press the “+” button. The FADEC will

store the current position as IDLE.

If you have done all steps correctly the blue

LED will light up in the ECU when the “Idle”

command, (trim and throttle stick set to idle positions on the transmitter).

Lower your throttle trim and the LED will go out indicating correct reading of the

transmitter engine shut off signal by the Fadec.

On rare occasions, usually when using a Futaba transmitter, it has been found that the

throttle channel sense of movement may require reversing (Servo reverse) and repeat the

transmitter alignment.

Correct reading of throttle % by the FADEC can be verified in the second screen,

percentage of the throttle position is shown on, 0% in the position of engine stop (trim and

stick down), 100% with stick/trim full up and between 10% and 30% at idle.

This now completes your radio setup and should only need doing again if the radio settings

in the TX are changed.

Throttle curves.

By default the FADEC control the RPM in linear way, i.e., at half stick position the engine

turn at half of the rotor RPM range. Jet engines develop the thrust in exponential mode,

thus half RPM means approximately ¼ of thrust. On small engines with a high idle to full

power rpm ratio, or in a high drag/low power planes, often only the last 1/3 of the throttle

stick produce significant thrust, with the low half stick travel being not used. Although

that with current digital TX the pilot can modify the throttle curve to suit his needs,

three throttle curves have been added to simplify the setup for most of the installations:

FULL EXPO: Mean linear RPM, it is the default setting and the mode used for all previous

software versions. Thrust develops exponentially, and it is the recommended curve for big

engines or/and high thrust/weight ratio planes, as it ease the control in low power used

during taxi.

LINEAR: Mean that the thrust develop linearly with the throttle setting. Could cause

difficult taxi, as it would be difficult to fine adjust the power at low settings.

HALF EXPO: An intermediate setting between the other two modes.

Stick position

MODE 0% (Idle) 25% 50% 75% 100%

FULL EXPO Idle thrust 6% 25% 56% 100%

HALF EXPO Idle thrust 16% 38% 66% 100%

LINEAR Idle thrust 25% 50% 75% 100%

% of total

thrust

Throttle curves can be changed while the engine running, so you can leave the throttle at a

given position and switch between the curves to see the difference.

Info and test screens.

This submenu contains several screens that provide useful information and tools to get the

maximum information on your system and to aid to correct any malfunction.

Running Time Counter.

This screen contains a timer which shows:

The total running time of the engine in minutes (Tot),

The time in seconds of the last engine run (Last)

The total number of starts (cycles - CY).

Use this screen to keep track of your total running time and starts.

Battery used Counter.

This screen display a mAh counter which shows

the capacity used from the battery. The counter

can be set to zero by pressing the (+) button.

The use of this screen is to know the capacity of

the battery used in a flight or in a session to decide when its time to recharge it.

NOTE: The precision of this counter is +/- 10%.

RX errors Counter.

The FADEC detect an error on the signal

received from the RX when this signal is absent

or outside from the valid window programmed

during the Radio setup. The standard on RC systems is that servos should receive 50

control pulses/second from the RX, and each pulse duration should be between 1000 and

2000 microsecond.

First line on this screen display the count of the pulses received that are shorter than the

“STOP” signal or larger that “Full power” signal received by the FADEC during the Radio

setup.

Second line shows the duration of the wrong signal, and this include the time that no

pulses have been received.

On PCM and 2,4G systems, the signal issued by the RX during a radio link failure depends

of the programming of the failsafe settings in your TX. If you program your failsafe

settings to “hold” or set the throttle position during failsafe in a valid position for the

fadec (signal between STOP and FULL POWER) the fadec will not detect any radio

problem, so it don’t will count any error. Our recommendation is to program the failsafe of

your TX to issue a signal to the throttle channel of less value than the STOP signal. I.e., if

your STOP position is –100% set the throttle failsafe to –125%. This will assure that the

fadec will recognize a failsafe condition, record the time, and stop the engine after 2s if

the radio link is not recovered. This last condition is obligatory in some countries and 100%

recommendable. Never fly your plane with the failsafe set to “hold” in the throttle

channel.

Airspeed.

If the airspeed sensor is connected to

the FADEC, it will detect it at power-up and

enable this screen. On first line it is possible to

set the maximum airspeed allowed for the

plane, between 32 and 250mph (50 to 400km/h), or OFF (no limit). The fadec will reduce

automatically the throttle to keep the airspeed at or below the maximum. Please note that

the fadec only can reduce the throttle, it never will give more power than the one set by

the pilot trough the throttle command.

Second screen show the maximum airspeed reached on last flight in mph and km/h. This

maximum is set to zero on next engine start.

Setting the throttle to higher than 50% (with engine off) the second line will change to

“Current airspeed” to allow you to test the operation of the airspeed sensor.

Besides the maximum airspeed, the fadec record the current airspeed each 0,5s during

the last 51 minutes and store it in its internal memory, along with the RPM, EGT, Throttle

position and pump power. It is possible to download later these measures to a PC and see

the airspeed of the plane during all flight phases.

Test menus

The Fadec provides several menus to test the

starter motor, glow plug, pump and solenoid

valves.

These test screens are only available when the

Fadec is on “Trim Low” status, that is to say,

recently powered up and receiving a STOP signal

from the TX.

Pressing the (-) button (under the “ON” reading

on the screen) will energize the selected device

and pressing (+) will shut down.

Special care should be taken when testing the

pump, as it is possible that some fuel be pumped

in to the engine, flooding it, and causing a hot

start on next startup

RUN menus:

On these submenus the parameters used for the

engine during normal run can be modified.

Note that some of these menus could not be

available in your unit if your fadec belong to a production engine where the engine

manufacturer have set these values at factory and restricted to the users to modify

them.

Full power speed: On this screen you can set the

RPM that the engine will run at 100% throttle. If

the engine manufacturer has set an upper limit, you

will be able to reduce the maximum speed, but not

to increase it beyond the limit.

Idle speed: Set the RPM that the engine will run

when the FADEC receive IDLE command. While the

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